


Spies

by EdibleNonsense



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: F/M, Gen, Unfinished, as of right now lol, spy AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 12:46:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13388103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdibleNonsense/pseuds/EdibleNonsense
Summary: Tien and Launch are undercover agents working for the mysterious Kame Organization. When a threat emerges that no one saw coming, they (and their unique assortment of colleagues) will have to figure out a way to save the world. UNFINISHED AND NOT LIKELY TO BE CONTINUED.





	Spies

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, I'm finally publishing this. If it's rough, it's because I started writing this about 4 months ago for NaNoWriMo and finally decided to revamp it and publish it on here. I've since lost interest in it and am currently just keeping it up for comments because I love everyone who commented :D Perhaps I'll write more oneshots for this idea, but I'm not gonna do the long-fic I was thinking of originally lol.

The door jostled and eventually slammed with a loud and solid thud. After the door, the loudest sounds were his footsteps, taking their time to make sure his shoes were never scuffed. It just wouldn’t be prudent to mess up one of life’s simple necessities when you never knew where your next meal was coming from. For now though, it was good enough that they had this week in the old but well-kept apartment, with the rickety door that never quite closed. Any roof was better than no roof at all.

“Hey,” she said, not looking up. “What’s up with this letter? It doesn’t look like the ones we usually get, but I didn’t open it because it was officially addressed to you. Gotta avoid breaking laws when I can.” Next to her was an opened bag of chips and next to that was an open sour cream container with the lid sitting on the coffee table near it.

“I’m not sure. Let me see it.” After shrugging off his coat and hanging it up in the closet near the front door (even though the closet door was also unable to be fully closed… perhaps it was time to speak to a manager about this issue), he made his way over to her on the couch. He stood there quietly while she gathered up her chips and dip and shoved them on the table.

“We can’t spend all our money on stuff like this,” he whispered. When he turned toward the lamp to better see the words on the letter, she rolled her eyes and put her head on her arm.

“… It says we’re needed for a meeting.”

“A meeting?” She sat up straighter. “We just got done with one of those!” Taking the paper out of his hands, she double checked if he had read the cryptic message right.

Sure enough, there it was.

“Could it be about _that_?” he said in a halting tone. “I mean…”

“Listen, I love ya, but you’re not the best person to be trusted with covert operations. Or working this job. But then again, I guess that’s how you met me, so…” Satisfied with that statement, she turned back to her bag of chips.

The shadow of a brief smile crossed his face. Worrying seemed to be the most prominent feeling on his mind lately, and he didn’t envision that ever going away. Not that he could potentially stop at any time, considering his wife was somewhat of a… wild card. She was actually a lot more intelligent and shrewd than she let on, but most of the time, his remarks seemed to fall on deaf ears. The chips, the bills, even the broken doors. However, he knew she cared a lot more than she let on, so he was careful to not ever dig too deep into what made her act so overconfident. Perhaps sometime, but not now. Most days, they were both just trying to get by and stay alive.

“Should I… call them?” He kept his head down and didn’t move. Sensing his hesitation, she gently put her feet down on the floor and moved so she was leaning against his shoulder. They both sat like that for a few seconds before she turned closer to him and said in the most levelheaded way possible, “Only if you want to.”

Pressing his lips together so tightly that they almost turned white, he nodded and slowly stood up. Taking the cordless phone from the kitchen counter in one hand, he walked over to the other side of the apartment’s living room, with footsteps that seemed to almost hesitate before connecting with the ground.

Concentrating on the number keys like his life depended on it, he meticulously dialed out the phone number he had memorized for so long. It almost felt surreal to actually use it, instead of just imagining endless situations in which he was using it. Holding it up to his ear and trying to keep his breath steady and his tone relaxed, he waited for the beeps signaling someone should pick up. By the fourth dial tone, he heard the answering machine start to record. Frustrated, he clicked the end call button and gripped the phone tighter. Seems like the only thing to do was to show up in person.

~~~~~~~ 

  
“Hey, Tien. And Launch! Good to see ya,” the director of operations said happily to the two as they entered the briefing room.

His hair sticking out at all ends like always (didn’t he have a comb at his house?), they only had time to lightly smile back at him before he ushered them both quickly into the empty seats at the round table. Around them, the other agents were whispering or writing something with quiet vigor, almost like they were waiting for a play or movie to start. It was unusual to have a meeting at any time other than the pre-determined monthly meetings, so it made sense everyone was on edge today. Except of course, for the director of operations. He always managed to seem light and energetic, no matter what the situation was.  

“Huh. Never seen it this hushed,” the blonde said, turning to glance at Tien sitting next to her.

Without turning his head or meeting her line of vision, he nodded. The only materials he had brought were an almost empty notebook and a fountain pen, which although incredibly fancy, seemed to have seen the inside of a box more than any kind of notable usage. She hadn’t brought anything, which was now looking like the intelligent option. At least, compared to the man sitting next to her on her other side, who had two notebooks but no pen in sight, and was furiously tapping away on his touchscreen phone. He leaned back in his chair with his lips pursed, and closed his eyes.

When he opened them, he found he was staring right at Launch, who was interested enough in his body language to try to peek at his phone.

“Uh hey, what’s up?” His face turned red almost instantly, and the lines around his eyes (his scars, perhaps, she wondered) seemed to fade even deeper into his tanned face.

“Hmmm. Not much. Just looking.” She pushed her rolling chair back and forth, still stealing glances at the phone.

“I think the meeting is about to start…”

“True. Also, put the red block in the second spot to the left, that’ll get ya 100 more points.”

After staring at the phone for a second more, he quickly tapped the left side of the screen and looked up with a smile.

“Hey, thanks!”

Grinning and kicking her leg up so she could lean towards him better, she nodded. Although the board of directors was obviously preparing to start some kind of a presentation, the two continued to whisper as subtly as possible. Within a minute, she got his name and where he worked in the division. No wonder she had never seen him before, he worked in the training areas for new recruits! Considering she had only ever worked with counterintelligence and foreign missions with her somewhat unsociable partner, meeting new people was not exactly top priority.

Speaking of her unsociable partner, she could see him focusing his stare towards her direction as the heads of the divisions tried to speak. Everyone else had fallen into a dead silence, and she finally got the hint to shut up.

“Now that we are all paying attention, I have an… unexpected situation to explain to you all. Now, don’t worry too much, but… if you have any doubts about whether or not you can handle information that cannot leave this room, please speak now.”

You could hear a pin drop. The room only held roughly ten officials, including the upbeat man that had greeted them when they first walked in. He was now standing in the corner of the room, with his torso leaning against the wall and his hands folded near his pockets, but not quite in them. He almost looked… contemplative. Not in the way that most people would, but with a distinct aura of combative emotion that showed in his eyes. His mouth certainly wasn’t smiling anymore, but neither was it scrolling or downturned. His energy hung in limbo, showing just how seriously he was taking this conversation.

An older hunchbacked man with a tense look on his face walked up to the front of the room. Having been sitting near the front already, not many people had noticed him, since he was wearing dark sunglasses and walked using a cane. Most of the other agents were wearing their day clothes, while he was dressed in what looked like an all-black uniform with a circular logo on the upper right-hand corner pocket. With one hand holding a handkerchief, he turned to face the crowd and coughed lightly.

“I’ve come here today to ask for help. I don’t suppose any of you recognize me?”

Without staring at one particular face in the crowd, he scanned the room to make sure everyone’s attention was focused on his speech. Satisfied with the group’s confused silence as a response, he sighed slightly and continued speaking.

“For many years now, we’ve known that there have been agents out there that seek to destroy us. I’m not going say that we thought they would never succeed, but it seemed unlikely at the time. However, more recently… some certain agents have been brought to our attention. If we had taken this seriously, we would have prepared a response earlier. However, sadly for us, we have no such response due only to our own misjudgment. The only thing we can do now is ask if any of you would be… interested in assisting us. I’m not going to pressure any of you to leave your normal stations to help out with this mission, but so far, I’m the only agent who is willing, and age has not been kind.”

He stopped for a moment with a sad smile on his face.

“If there is anyone who is interested, please don’t hesitate. I can’t promise you’ll be safe, but I will promise that I will use all your skills, all your time, and all your efforts as prudently as I can.”

His eyes drifted from face to face, expecting something. He looked equal parts hopeful and completely defeated. There was no one, he knew, that would ever willingly sign up for this. Not one single soul would ever risk their life on such a vague mission. At least he had tried.

All of a sudden, a hand was in the air.

“I-I’ll join.”

The timid sound came from a short young man sitting on the opposite side of the room from Tien and Launch, whose head was shaved completely clean and was wearing a checkered shirt with dark pants. He scrunched up his cheeks and mouth to try to keep from letting his worry show on his face.

“But what exactly do you want us to do? Because I would want to help out, I just want to know what I’m getting myself into, you know?” He chuckled lightly but quickly stifled the rest of his laugh when he saw that no one else was laughing with him. 

“I’m sorry, but I can only explain that to you in private. No details can leave this room unless you’re someone who has a stake in the situation and can be held accountable.”

The bald man nodded once quickly while leaning back in his seat, eyes trying to not show his nervousness. Even though he was trying to hide it, everyone around him, except for the old man up front, knew that he was wishing he had never spoke.

“Anyone else?” The elderly agent questioned once more.

Tien’s hand shot up.

“I’ll join.”


End file.
